Aesthetics of Music (Level 2)

Code

MUSI2015

School

Music

Level

2

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

Discussions of music have a long-established history of engaging with philosophical issues, while music has often challenged and shaped philosophical thought. This module introduces the student to relationships between the two disciplines and examines some of the crucial issues at stake. The first half of the module will explore the foundations of modern aesthetics in the writings of enlightenment and nineteenth-century philosophers, including Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. The second half will explore key twentieth-century contributions from thinkers including Adorno, Barthes and Lydia Goehr. The module offers a variety of conceptual tools that will enable the student to develop critical and philosophical skills relevant for the historical and theoretical study of music.

Target Students

Available to all Year 2 students including Liberal Arts, exchange and subsidiary students.

Classes

• One 2-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
• One 1-hour-30-minute lecture each week for 11 weeks

One 1.5 hour lecture and one 2-hour seminar per week. Breakdown of hours: classes – 38.5 hours; individual study – 161.5 hours.

Assessment

• 50% Coursework 1: 1 x 2700-3000 word essay
• 50% Coursework 2

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, the students should be familiar with the history and the methods of philosophical discussions about music and be able to apply critical and interpretative skills, and relate philosophical issues, to the field of music studies.

Conveners

• Professor Nicholas Baragwanath